On February 5, 2020, the Prime Minister held the fifth meeting of the Novel Coronavirus Response Headquarters at the Prime Minister’s Office.

At the meeting, a discussion was held on the response to the novel coronavirus.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,

“On the cruise ship Diamond Princess, which arrived in Yokohama Port on February 3, in light of the case confirmed that a passenger, who disembarked from the ship at the end of last month in Hong Kong was infected by novel coronavirus, onboard quarantine has been implemented in accordance with the Quarantine Act. The quarantine is still taking place even now; we have collected samples from those on board with fever or other symptoms, people who have been in close contact with them, and others, and are proceeding with analysis of those samples.

Among them, ten people have so far tested positive. We have had quarantine officers escort these people off the ship, and they are now hospitalized at a medical institution in Kanagawa Prefecture. Under the assumption that the latency period for the disease is at maximum 14 days, we have decided not to allow the disembarkation of other ship crew or passengers. We are having them remain on board for the necessary period of time. We are asking them to stay in their cabins, while thoroughly practicing measures to prevent infection.

We are facing a new situation in which an outbreak has occurred on a large passenger ship. It is necessary to implement thorough measures to prevent further infections, while paying full attention to health conditions of the ship crew and passengers. I ask you to make every possible effort to ensure the health of the ship crew and passengers, by dispatching medical doctors, nurses and others, in addition to supplying sanitary goods such as face masks, medicines and daily necessities. I want the relevant ministries and agencies to continue to collaborate closely and respond to this incident in a calm manner.

Furthermore, along with the strengthening of border controls, the strengthening of measures to prevent epidemics, such as enhancing and expanding domestic screening systems and consultation services are urgent issues. At this moment, we are working on developing systems to enable private testing institutions to conduct screenings that the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Public Health Institutes have been conducting. In addition to that, we are strengthening consultation services at local governments and relevant organizations. I ask you to thoroughly listen to the voices and concerns of the public, by working on these efforts to develop such systems.

I intend to make decisions and implement them without hesitation over measures we should take with this Headquarters, prioritizing the protection of the health and lives of the people over anything else. I would like to ask for your continued efforts.”